1. Field of the Invention
The field of the invention includes hand-held or portable devices for collecting and storing atmospheric samples for subsequent chemical analysis.
2. Description of Related Art
U.S. Pat. No. 6,477,906 (Peterson) purports to disclose a sampling system for capturing samples of trace elements in ambient air, the system including a multi-port valve coupled to a plurality of sorbent tubes. The multi-port valve is constructed and operated in a predetermined sequence to created a flow path through the multi-port valve, thereby directing an air sample to one sorbent tube at a given time and over a given time interval.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,124,274 (Carroll et al.) purports to disclose a sample gun for collecting vapors emanating from compounds such as explosives, the vapors being collected on a surface coated with gas chromatograph material which traps explosive vapors while repelling nitric oxide. The trapped vapors are concentrated in one or more cold spot concentrators before a high speed chromatograph separates the vapors.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,500,369 (Kiplinger) purports to disclose a hand-held portable sampler that uses a vacuum to induce the flow of air into an air chamber and around a deflector plate. The deflector plate is mounted substantially transverse to the airflow pattern and configured to disrupt the airflow so as to cause airborne particulates to impact a nutrient material contained in culture containers.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,321,609 (Mengel et al.) purports to disclose a gas sampling system that includes a rotating carousel for holding sample tubes. Each sample tube is sealed at each end by a cap that has a needle-pierceable septum by which a gas sample is inserted, and contains a solid collector material to trap chemical and biological contaminants in a gas sample drawn through the sample tube. Individual sample tubes are moved into and out of a sampling location by incremental rotation of the carousel.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,142,143 (Fite et al.) purports to disclose a preconcentrator for analyzing trace constituents in gases wherein a sample gas is introduced to a confined sorbent. The sorbent is thereafter evacuated by a vacuum pump and a low-pressure carrier gas passes through the sorbent while it is desorbing, wherein the desorbed trace constituents are carried by the carrier gas to a detector that operates at low pressure, such as a mass spectrometer.